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Post by whollygoats on Oct 20, 2017 4:01:13 GMT
So, it is officially apple season.
I went to my local upscale nursery, where they have an annual nine-day 'apple-tasting festival' (two weekends and the week between of apple debauchery). The 'festival' is in full swing. So, I went looking for a fistful of 'good pie apples'.
In my book, a 'good pie apple' must qualify as tart, medium firm, apple which doesn't entirely break down when it cooks. Gravensteins are my top choice of apples for apple pie. Unfortunately, many, many growers decided that Gravensteins don't keep well, don't travel well, and fruit early, and they were replaced with other varieties.
No Gravensteins at the 'festival'.
There were, however, large bins of apples (and pears), separated by variety and signed with variety names, all for $.99/lb. I picked up enough for five plus pies. Some Idareds, some Jonathans, some Red Winesaps, and a goodly number of King Davids.
I won't get five pies, because I hope to be able to offer Swimmer, who has gluten issues and does not eat pie crust, some choice samples of cooked apples.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 20, 2017 4:26:12 GMT
I'd better make some friends to invite over for pie, or I'll gain back that ten pounds I lost to the tainted cantaloupe.
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Post by Mari on Oct 20, 2017 8:05:50 GMT
Can't you buy gluten free stuff to make the dough for a pie crust?
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 20, 2017 13:31:32 GMT
I can, and I have. Have you ever tried working with gluten-free flour for pie crusts? I don't advise it for maintaining one's sanity.
She decided that she would rather that I cook cupcake pans with filling only, cooking those, and then scooping and adding ice cream.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 20, 2017 18:33:26 GMT
So...I've got the oven preheated. The dough is chilling in the fridge. The paper is spread out on the dinette table for rolling out and the pie plates awaiting.
I have two sets of apples prepped for the first two pies: The Idareds and the Red Winesaps. I bought six of each apple, but I had to stretch the Winesaps with a King David apple, while the Idareads only used five apples. Winesaps are small. Jonathans and King Davids await round two, which will necessitate a trip to the market for shortening. That means no taste test for Swimmer on the Winesaps.
ETA: They're in! Only an hour until they can be pulled out....to cool. *quiver lip*
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Post by Moose on Oct 20, 2017 19:19:10 GMT
Pieeeeeeeeee.. bring me pie!
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 20, 2017 19:44:27 GMT
Sorry...I gotta run to the market for more shortening, and sugar, and salt.
Busy, busy, busy.
Two more pies before sundown....
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Post by Moose on Oct 20, 2017 21:32:41 GMT
Hmph. I want my pie.
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Post by Kye on Oct 20, 2017 21:41:45 GMT
I bought a couple of apples today...
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 20, 2017 22:52:24 GMT
Oh, dear.
I have met my goal of four pies and a sampling of baked apple bits. Before sundown.
I seem to have a surfeit of homemade apple pie. Four full pies at once, even.
Darn.
What ever should I do?
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 21, 2017 0:43:33 GMT
Hmmm.
Here's the deal.
You show up at my door in the next day are so, you're likely to be offered apple pie.
I'm not delivering it anywhere. I'd prefer you sit down at my table and eat my pie, but you're welcome to take it and eat it elsewhere.
Word went out to the Usual Suspects, but one is in Euskara Herria, another up the valley. Two others are reputed to be returning tomorrow.
The neighbors, across the street, have been offered.
A former co-worker, who lives alone, chimed in on FB and got an invite to drop by.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 21, 2017 1:35:15 GMT
My first comparison: A slice of the Red Winesap alongside a slice of the Idared.
Idared was sampled first and jumped to high points right out of the gate. Good zip. Not too sweet. Good consistancy. It didn't ring the Gravenstein bell, but it came damned close and immediately took backup.
Then the Red Winesap. Also a good finish, but with a slightly more 'metallic' taste to the tartness. Also excellent consistancy. Not as good as the Idared, but still way better than any supermarket apple. I'd buy it before I would try to make pie with Granny Smiths. They are better than that. Subordinate position to the Idared, though.
Next up will be to compare Idared with one of the two remaining, King David or Jonathan.
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Post by Mari on Oct 21, 2017 16:14:50 GMT
You're making me drool...
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 21, 2017 18:28:51 GMT
Round Two....Compared the King David with the Jonathan.
Result: King David / Jonathan.
Indeed, at this point, I can offer up a tenative overall relative ranking of the four varieties against known used varieties:
1. Gravenstein. (My standard)
2. Idared. Good comparison to Gravenstein. Good tartness and excellent consistancy when cooked. An adequate replacement for Gravensteins.
3. King David. Compares favorably with Idared, but not as tart and probably needs a tad more oven time for top consistancy. A worthy pie apple.
4. Winesap. Still a good pie apple, but with a somewhat distinctive tartness that I typify as 'more metallic'. Excellent consistancy. A worthy pie apple.
5. Jonathan. Fine, but undistinguished for an 'artisan' apple. Still better by far than mixing something with Granny Smiths from the supermarket.
6. McIntosh. Good flavor, but my experience is that it cooks to mush too quickly. Too soft for pies, probably good for sauces.
7. (Granny Smith x Braeburn). For when you gotta have homemade apple pie, but these are the only passable pie apples available....
With the current set, I need to compare the Idared directly with the King David, just to see if this holds up.
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Post by Moose on Oct 21, 2017 20:08:29 GMT
I'll eat all of them
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Post by Mari on Oct 22, 2017 8:55:18 GMT
Granny Smiths are great, but I don't think I'd put them in a pie. They're great in yoghurt though. And in salads.
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Post by Moose on Oct 24, 2017 19:19:15 GMT
Granny Smiths are my favourite apples .. actually they're the only ones I really like. I can eat most green apples I suppose but I don't care for red ones at all.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 24, 2017 19:51:46 GMT
Most apples sold in food outlets and markets in the US are sweet apples, the 'Delicious' variety being the most obvious, but others, like 'Gala', 'Pink Lady', 'Braeburn', 'Fuji', and the latest rage, 'Honeycrisp', are all in this vein. Sweet apples are terrible for making pies. Granny Smiths are one of the few 'tart' apples regularly sold in American food markets. And, they are ubiquitous. The problem for me as a baker is that, although 'tart', they are also pretty damned 'firm' and can come through an hour's worth of baking still being 'firm'. To use them, I slice them thin and mix them with another apple (I prefer 'Braeburns') in hopes that the softer, faster cooking sweet apple will augment the firmer Grannies cooking down.
If you like Granny Smiths, you'd probably like any of the apples I selected. But, I don't think you get them. (Granny Smiths are everywhere because the Kiwis have foisted them upon the world.) Instead, I asked at The Apple Eating Place in Ambleside and they assured me that, in Britain, the choice apple for pies is the Bramley. Look for those and I'll bet you'll be pleased, no matter the color.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Oct 28, 2017 23:57:27 GMT
I have heard of hardly any of those baking apples except Jonathans, and Granny Smith of course. I have no problem using Granny Smiths, but then I make apple strudle and grate my apple so I don't have any problem with it being too firm. I also am rather fond of a bit of bite to my apple. Still, I want all your pies. All the pies, give me all the pies!
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 29, 2017 1:12:44 GMT
Jonathans and Winesaps have been around for generations. The Idared I liked so much is a relatively recent cross of the Jonathan variety, an already tart pie apple, with the Wagener, a well-known cider apple, probably even more tart. I suspect the King David variety is possibly also a cross with the Jonathan (ETA: checking its parentage on wiki shows it to be a cross of Jonathan and Winesap.) I thought that Bramleys were only available in the UK, until I looked the variety up on wiki, only to find them portrayed by 'Bramleys Seedling' apples from....British Columbia, a mere 300 miles north. It is a damned shame that fruit are NOT allowed to cross the border.
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Post by Mari on Oct 29, 2017 7:41:22 GMT
We have Jonathans here as well. Or we used to in any case.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 29, 2017 10:59:28 GMT
Duplicate post. Please delete. You should be able to delete your own posts yourself - the drop down arrow on the cog button at the top right of the post should show a 'Delete post' option. Much safer than asking an admin to "delete" something without specifying explicitly that you just want the one duplicate post deleted. Who knows what might happen.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 29, 2017 11:01:13 GMT
And what do you know, someone deleted the post after I quoted it
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Post by tangent on Oct 29, 2017 11:02:09 GMT
Yes, I did, while you were preparing to quote it.
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Post by JoeP on Oct 29, 2017 11:19:01 GMT
I was pretty sure it was you
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Post by JoeP on Oct 29, 2017 11:20:02 GMT
Not a Big Red Button kind of admin.
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Post by tangent on Oct 29, 2017 15:57:42 GMT
But I understand your point... I think we all do
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Post by Alvamiga on Oct 29, 2017 17:30:03 GMT
Someone should delete all these implied insults!
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Post by JoeP on Oct 29, 2017 17:58:30 GMT
Not insults! More ... general concern for wellbeing of mooses, humans, penguins and life as we know it.
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Post by whollygoats on Oct 29, 2017 18:07:08 GMT
Thanks for the directions, JoeP.
I thought that I had done it before, but it had been so long since I'd needed to delete a duplicate post that the means of accomplishing it had escaped me.
Perhaps now that I have been publicly reproved, it might stick in my memory cells.
Just wait and see how long this post lasts....
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